Babysitting meal mishap - WWYD?

[isitoverno]

I babysat my friend’s little boy yesterday. He had chosen a ready meal for dinner and when it came time to cook it, I followed the instructions on the back of the packet.

It burnt and the container melted. I ended up having to order a new meal on deliveroo because he was inconsolable about not having this meal.

When I told my friend she said “oh yeah, there’s a problem with the oven, I should’ve mentioned that!” - It’s stuck to grilling everything.

The meal ended up costing £10 with fees etc! I don’t have a car seat for him so it was the only option. AIBU to think that she should’ve at least offered to refund me?

YABU - you burnt it, you replace it.

YANBU - there’s an issue with their oven. Not your fault.

Wow what?

Oh ok, the OP didn’t mention a microwave 🤷🏽‍♀️

She probably didn’t think about it to be honest, if you want the money you should text her and ask for it,

The response the op described is also beyond what I would expect a babysitter to deal with, but the op didn't tell us about it until after I asked. The op could have come back and said the child would have sulked for 10 minutes and called them a mean-ee.

Apologies, but mother should have told OP anyway. If the preferred cooking instructions were oven and the oven is faulty it's still down to mother. How is OP supposed to know ?

How did you cook the replacement meal then?

Things were so much easier years ago! So, pre Deliveroo etc, if something like this happened the child had an option. A sandwich or nothing. Now there is choice, instant gratification and little satisfaction.

And if mum was building up the special meal with aunty, how was mum expecting OP to cook it?

Assume it's one that can be oven cooked and microwaved - but in that case I would have gone for the microwave option as my first choice if cooking for a tricky child, just get it cooked and on the table!

But aside from that, mum should reimburse OP, especially as she was expecting OP to cook a meal and the oven was broken and she didn't tell OP.

Maybe the oven has been left broken and not repaired or replaced because the mother is struggling for money and doesn't have an unexpected £10 to replace the ready meal.

I thought same!
And who has an oven stuck on grill and doesn't get it fixed!!?
Htf does she cook

My oven was broken for ages I used microwave or air fryer until I could buy a new one.

Then i would have given him nothing! He wasnt going to starve from missing one meal and its likely that if he got hungry he would have eaten something before going to bed.

Sorry but i think it was mad to deliveroo 1 meal and your friend probably thinks the same. Yes she should have mentioned about the grill to you but it sounds like she didnt specifically leave that meal out for him. Does she not have a microwave?

Such nonsense. Again.

I microwaved it - you could do both but I figured because it was a roast dinner it would probably be better in the oven - nice roast potatoes. She cooks almost everything in the air fryer or microwave which I do understand, but I think that’s why it slipped her mind to tell me!

If there wasn't anything else in the house he could have been offered, then yes she should repay you, if there was other stuff but you just didn't fancy dealing with an upset child then I think it's on you. (Though if you were doing this as a massive favour rather than, say, a reciprocal arrangement or for money, she should always make sure you aren't out of pocket, even if there was a less pricey way to feed the DC.)

He wouldn’t starve from missing quite a few meals. That’s not the same as being hungry.
it seems it was built up as a treat whilst his parents were out, e.g X will come and look after you, you can have the dinner you’ve chosen & when you wake up we’ll be home.

if the first didn’t happen the child might start to doubt the rest, particularly if he’s ND.

Also when the parents came home & asked if he ate his dinner & were told that the grill-only oven burnt it & he wanted only that so despite him crying I just gave him nothing they probably wouldn’t be happy about that.